The Puffer Forum

Now what type of snails does my GSP eat and where do I get them?

Also, what size and how many to get at a time?

My new GSP is 2 inches.

well there is a very good library article on snails that is up. i suggest you try that. ramshorns are the best usually and one or two small ones per feeding is fine.

Thanks. I found two tiny ones in my yard today and gave them to my GSP's and they tore them up.

It made me so happy.

Just two? Really? My little F8 eats a dozen or so... is this overfeeding? Will it be harmful? Thanks

Dan O

I think that would probably be overfeeding but I'll let the experts answer that one. Puffers only need snails a few times a week to keep their teeth worn down, you should also feed them a varied diet of frozen or live foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, krill, etc. You can pretty much feed them any type of snail except for Malaysian trumpet snails, whose shells are too hard and could break the puff's teeth. If the snail can fit in the puffers mouth, he'll eat it. If it's too big to fit into his mouth, he'll work at it until it's in bite size pieces. I stopped at the lfs today and they gave me about a dozen small nuisance snails for free, so check with your lfs.

I have to disagree with the statement that "Puffers only need snails a few times a week to keep their teeth worn down,..." as that depends entirely on the puffer, its size, and the size of the snails. My SAPs's diet has always been and will likely always be >>90%, likely >95%, snails, and to this I atribute the result that I very rarely have to do any dental work on these fish. My F-8 diets are at least >80% snails and frequenty much higher, without dental issues, and for remarkably long lives. All my crustacean and mollusk eating puffers less than 6" adult size have snails as the majority of their diet, not because I enjoy raising snails, but because IMHO & IME I have found that to be the best diet for them. Larger puffers get large foods, but selected for the highest possible crunch factor.

Additionally, IME and to the best of my knowledge, brine shrimp is an extremely poor puffer food if frozen, and an enticing but poor nutrional offering if live. Bloodworms (frozen) are nutritious, but never should be more than a treat for anything above DPs as they are nutritious but crunch-poor. Krill equally lack crunch. These foods as staples of SAP and F-8 diets will all but guarantee incisor problems.

If you have information to the contrary, I would really like to hear it.

Hmmmm, I've got figure 8's and was told that by another figure 8 owner on a different forum. But that's probably why she is having to knock out and trim her puffers teeth right now. I guess I'll up my puffers snail intake, thanks for the info

RTR, what should I feed my puffers now though, for crunch value?? They are only about an inch long right now. I put about 8 small nuisance snails into the tank and they kind of picked at them, but didn't eat any, at least they didn't break the shell. They may have sucked the meat out of a couple of them because they haven't moved but they didn't crush any shells. I've tried jumbo shrimp, which they just picked at. I also tried a gut-loaded cricket but they didn't even touch it. I thought about ghost shrimp but I don't want to encourage them to 'hunt' live food because I have bb gobies with them. Any suggestions????

Smallish puffers frequently have to be trained to our tank-raised snails, especially with our limited sizes and types available at any given moment. Snail-biting/slurping is very common for small puffs and probably is a wild behavior as well for these fish - any food is better than no food. Try crushing the snails for the smaller puffs - I use large heavy stainless forceps, holding the snail in the tank and crushing it there. The fish will get all the meat that way, and do at least a bit of crunching on the parts of the shell with meaty attchments. They are intelligent fish, so learn quickly to respond to the sight and sound of the process. With some maturity they will be able to handle a wider selection of sizes on their own, with the time-consuming individual crushing. Very small puffers such as the dwarves rarely crush any snails bryond tiny ones. They seem to stay biters/slurpers throughout their lives. But their incisors never develop to the tough models on the larger puffers, and they very rarely if ever have incisor problems.

I bought a couple at the LPS and crushed them with a hammer and put them in the tank.

These little ones act like snails are going out of style. While I was fishing I found a baby hermit crab and threw that in it. It did not last long at all. It was like a feeding frenzy.

They also like clams (De-shelled).

Hello
Just wondering can you use like ordinary garden snails.
Is this a stupid question.
Forgive me if its something i should know.

As long as they come from an area free of pesticides ,fertilizers etc.